1. Pepper
Photo source: SoftBank
A robot called Pepper that claims to read human emotions is set to go on sale in Japan within months.
Unveiled by Japanese firm SoftBank at a media event in Tokyo, the robot can joke, dance and amuse people as well as helping around in the home and with customer service.
The robot uses an emotional engine, which is powered by a cloud-based artificial intelligence system, to analyse expressions, voice tones and gestures.
Company president Masayoshi Son said: "People describe others as being robots because they have no emotions, no heart.
"For the first time in human history, we’re giving a robot a heart, emotions."
Although prototypes of Pepper will be deployed at two of the Softbank’s stores in Tokyo, it will fully go on sale from February 2015 for 198,000 yen (£1,152).
2 Raptor
Photo source: YouTube
A two-legged robot that can run faster than Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt was unveiled by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) this week.
The Raptor can reach speeds of 28.6mph thanks to blade legs and a balancing tail similar to those used by amputee athletes.
The robot, which weighs about 12kg, uses one motor per leg and relies on an Achilles tendon system for shock absorption and energy recovery during motion.
Its design is inspired by velociraptors, a type of dinosaur that chased down prey in packs millions of years ago, and only allows it to run a treadmill. KAIST said it plans to redesign parts of the robot to allow it to run on other surfaces.
Raptor isn’t the fastest robot in the world. Boston Dynamics Cheetah gallops at more than 29mph, which has four legs rather than Raptor’s two.
3. Emiew2
Photo source: Emiew2
Japanese electronics firm Hitachi unveiled a robot it claims can tell jokes and determine how humans react to its sense of humour.
The roller-skating Emiew2 picks up key words to try to work out what question is being asked and detects movements to understand a range of human responses.
When asked how many people work at Hitachi’s lab at a demonstration in Tokyo in May, the robot said: "We have two swans!"
When its listener appeared confused, the robot said:"You got it? I’m kidding, we have about 800 people working here."
Hitachi said the long-term goal is for Emiew to provide company for humans, as a kind of house pet, or a receptionist.
4. Vital
A robot that can make investment recommendations for life sciences firms by pouring over large amounts of data was recently appointed to Japanese venture capital firm Deep Knowledge.
Just like other members of the board, the robot is expected to get a vote on whether the firm makes an investment in a company or not.
"We were attracted to a software tool that could in large part automate due diligence and use historical data-sets to uncover trends that are not immediately obvious to humans surveying top-line data," Deep knowledge said in a statement in May.
"We plan to incorporate new information from prospective investments into the databases to compare the outcomes against our selected investments."
The robot’s software was developed by Aging analytics UK who licensed it out to Deep Knowledge to help make business decisions on therapies for age-related diseases.
The robot has already helped make two major investment decisions in life science companies Pathway Pharmaceuticals and InSilico Medicine.
5. Jimmy
Photo source: Intel
A 3D printable robot that can sing, translate languages and tweet will be released by Intel later this year.
Called Jimmy, the hardware designs will be freely available online, allowing anyone with access to a 3D printer to 3D print the basic parts. Partners will sell the components that cannot be 3D-printed, such as motors and an Intel Edison processor in kits.
"What’s so exciting about the open source model is the public gets involved in developing this first generation of crowd-sourced, consumer robots,’ said Intel Researcher Brian Johnson.
The white 2-foot tall robot is also open source, which would allow developers to build their own apps and users to download whatever software applications they want to run on their machines.
The consumer version starts from about $1,600, while a high end industrial version pre-assembled will also be available for around $16,000 that is designed for researchers and industrial applications.
Intel said it hopes the prices for the robot kits to fall below $1,000 within five years.
6. Robot butterflies
Photo source: O2
The series of robots butterflies, commisioned by O2, were constructed from bits of old phones, including iPhones and the HTC, to promote recycling.
Unveiled at the Natural History Museum in London by design compny Is This Good, the mobile phone butterflies each have a phone number, which when rung will make the butterfly come to fly and do things like flap its wings and head.
"We hoped that, by creating ‘Social Butterflies’, we would raise a smile and remind people that we can create moments of recognition and happiness out of products we have previously loved and now overlook," creative director Chris Cairns said.
7. Robotic Snake
Photo source: Medtronics
A surgical robot, known as the Flex System, that can manoeuvre through your body like a snake is being developed by New England-based company Medrobotics Corp.
The system, which was first developed by Professor of Robotics Howie Choset of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, is equipped with flexible co-axial parts, an endoscope system, LEDs and high definition cameras to help surgeons access parts of the human body that are difficult to reach via other methods.
Movements are manually controlled using an external joystick, while the camera includes ports for small surgical instruments to be attached.
The device will primarily be used for procedures in the throat area, but it could also be used for more complex operations like heart procedures in the future.
A limited commercial launch of the robot is now starting in select European markets, where it could soon be making its way into hospitals.
8. Tody
A four armed robot, developed by 21-year-old Turkish design student Rana Alper, can climb curtains and sofas to clean your home.
Currently a concept as part of this year’s Electrolux Design Lag competition, each arm has 22 stream nozzles and 29 vacuum nozzles, while the main body are water reservoirs and a dust bag.
The robot can be programmed using simple voice commands to clean walls, windows, furniture, curtains and even ceilings.
9. Tumbleweed Desert
Tumbleweed Desert, designed by Israeli inventor Shlomi Mir, is an autonomous robot that roams the desert, only using the wind to propel itself.
Mir hopes the project could halt desertification by ejecting plant-seeds in strategic locations.
Back in January, he said: "Desertification is a serious and irreversible state of land degradation, particularly evident in drylands. It is mainly caused by land use changes from population pressures, agricultural expansion, deforestation, and over use.
"By alternately collecting data, communicating together, and travelling to disperse seeds, a group of Tumbleweeds can slowly create a barrier to defend against the advancing desert."
10. iFetch
Photo source: iFetch
Too tired to walk your dog? The iFetch robot shoots a ball slightly smaller than a tennis ball out of a small hole, allowing owners to rest their feet.
The compact device has three distance settings, allowing owners to choose how far they want their dog to run by pressing a button on the back of the device.
Once the dog learns how to drop the ball back into the device’s funnel, it’s fired back out again.
The device, which is available both in the US and the UK at $99, could also work well for dog owners with physical limitations.
